Is it that easy to manipulate the stock?

It sure does seem like it's easy to manipulate the stock market. When news broke of the Samsung offer to buy BlackBerry, the stock went up 30% - BlackBerry denied that this happened, and today, the stock went down about 20% or so. How easy is it for these 'sources' to just make something like that up to inflate a stock? I'm sure a lot people made some really quick money on this news. I know it would be bad for someone's reputation (and probably illegal) if they continually did this, but it seems like any semi-trusted source could just says something like this, and then the next day when everyone says they were wrong, life just goes on. There must be some accountability behind the scenes, no?

It sure does seem like it's easy to manipulate the stock market. When news broke of the Samsung offer to buy BlackBerry, the stock went up 30% - BlackBerry denied that this happened, and today, the stock went down about 20% or so. How easy is it for these 'sources' to just make something like that up to inflate a stock? I'm sure a lot people made some really quick money on this news. I know it would be bad for someone's reputation (and probably illegal) if they continually did this, but it seems like any semi-trusted source could just says something like this, and then the next day when everyone says they were wrong, life just goes on. There must be some accountability behind the scenes, no?

Thought a similar thing this morning...
Pump and dump. On fake news, rumors or 'unnamed sources', etc. ...

Market Price of a stock is largely based on market sentiment. The less stressful way to invest in BBRY or any other stock is to research and believe in the fundamental and then invest long-term and ignore all the market chatters. Long term averaging will better reflect the value of your investment.

A) It's illegal to do it ever, let alone whether or not it is 'continuous'.
B) The source was 'exclusive' to Reuters, which is one of the biggest / most reputable news companies on the planet.
C) The denials state that there have been no discussions with company executives, yet the G&M says that several offers have been recently rejected by the BOD and Watsa.

It is truly that easy for a stock to be manipulated, especially in the case of one which is so volatile as BBRY. While the pump&dump scheme is illegal there are ways that this can be avoided. Had the author made a massive purchase that morning and then released a rumour article and cashed in, the SEC would surely notice and they would be fined/fired/imprisoned. But if they had a holding of bbry already in their portfolio and had some small grain of evidence as to why they could report that story, crisis averted, cash made. The stock market is a game and there are many ways that powerful investors/news outlets etc can capitalize on it, but there are risks, and once credibility is damaged it may be impossible to repair. Personally, I enjoy my investment in BBRY because it does have potential because so many news outlets keep pushing it down, giving at a value status. It's easy to pump or punish a stock that's so volatile when you have that kind of following, but it can easily backfire by costing your credibility that gave you the power in the first place.

Wall Street has been manipulated almost since it's creation by "insiders". If fact before the October crash, a seat on the NYSE was pretty much a license to steal and the introduction of the electronic trading floor has just made the stealing more accessible to more greedy folks. While "The Wolf of Wall Street" movie was probably an exaggeration of the facts, the essential sentiments expressed in the movie was not. The complete callousness of the traders toward their own customers is repeatedly proven out in the many SEC investigations and the false sense of entitlement that the billons of dollars that flow through these companies creates is truly shocking when exposed to the light.

Unfortunately, this same sense of entitlement has moved into the ranks of corporate America were this lack of morality and sense of entitlement is fairly commonplace. All one has to do is look at the executive compensation in relation to the rank-and-file to know the extent of the moral bankruptcy in any one company. CEO's are paid millions, in some cases, while putting the company in the ditch and walking away filthy rich. (ex. **** Brown at EDS)

In short, I personally find it troubling that a great country like the USA underpins its very intrinsic value on such a corrupt and scandal plagued entity.

Wall Street has been manipulated almost since it's creation by "insiders". If fact before the October crash, a seat on the NYSE was pretty much a license to steal and the introduction of the electronic trading floor has just made the stealing more accessible to more greedy folks. While "The Wolf of Wall Street" movie was probably an exaggeration of the facts, the essential sentiments expressed in the movie was not. The complete callousness of the traders toward their own customers is repeatedly proven out in the many SEC investigations and the false sense of entitlement that the billons of dollars that flow through these companies creates is truly shocking when exposed to the light.

Unfortunately, this same sense of entitlement has moved into the ranks of corporate America were this lack of morality and sense of entitlement is fairly commonplace. All one has to do is look at the executive compensation in relation to the rank-and-file to know the extent of the moral bankruptcy in any one company. CEO's are paid millions, in some cases, while putting the company in the ditch and walking away filthy rich. (ex. **** Brown at EDS)

In short, I personally find it troubling that a great country like the USA underpins its very intrinsic value on such a corrupt and scandal plagued entity.

Jim Cramer, in a video-taped interview with The Street, best described the media function:
When (shorting) ... The hedge fund mode is to not do anything remotely truthful, because the truth is so against your view, (so the hedge funds) create a new 'truth' that is development of the fictional you hit the brokerage houses with a series of orders (a short down ladder that pushes the price down), then we go to the press. You have a vicious cycle down it's a pretty good game.
This interview, which is more like a confession, was never supposed to get on the air, however, it somehow ended up on YouTube. Cramer and The Street have made repeated efforts, with some success, to get it taken off of YouTube.

I don't doubt that manipulation can be used to create short term changes to a troubled stock's value....

They problems with BBRY is that company has faced some major "business problems". And while Chen has gotten spending down, revenues have also fallen. Now are there possible "other" products on the horizon that might bring revenues and profits to the company... maybe so. But until BlackBerry is FIRMLY back on track to being a profitable company with a future, Good News or Bad News the stock will blow with the wind...